Roses and Good Wills
by Purpliexzy
Summary: AU: Max Goodwin crosses paths with Helen Sharpe and she confides in him about the bad day she had. What they both didn't know is that Max is the reason she had that bad day in the first place. PS: Max is not married in this one, he doesn't have cancer and Luna is alive as his younger sister.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**Author's Note: So, I feel like I should warn y'all, I don't know how to write a smutty scene. I just don't like writing it. Sigh, I guess I'm that shy.**

**By the way, Luna is Max's younger sister in this story**.

_Max_

The sound of cars moving at this hour of the night only proves one thing to me; New York is the city that never sleeps. Of course, I barely sleep too seeing as I am a doctor who always prefers night shifts to morning shifts because let's be real, I don't really have anything to look forward to at night. Maybe that's how my life is supposed to be in the long run, what with all the responsibilities I added to myself this evening.

I signed as the new medical director of New Amsterdam, the oldest and probably the busiest hospital in the whole city.

My phone rings just as I'm about to push the doors to the tavern I'm supposed to meet my sister, Luna, for a celebratory drink –her idea, not mine.

"Hey, I'm at the door right now, sorry I'm late."

"Shit, Max, I'm so sorry." She says into the phone and I can hear her giggling slightly. Of course, she's with her fiancé. "I know I'm a bad sister, but I can't make it. Edgar and I got stuck in traffic-"

"Um, Luna, I'll believe the book club story more than the traffic one right now." I chuckle while scratching my brow. "And no, you're not a bad sister; I just think Edgar ought to let you see the sun once in a while."

"But it's 9pm." She points out and I roll my eyes. Nothing I say is going to get her out of there to The Tavern anyway. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I'll just get a beer I'm probably not going to be able to drink up anyway."

"Aww Max."

"Hey, I'm fine. Enjoy whatever it is you and Edgar are doing, hanging up now." I do as I say and sigh while I push the door and enter the place that's bustling with energy. Just as I approach the bar, I look beside me and see her. The woman I saw a few hours ago in New Amsterdam. For some reason, she looked pissed and she doesn't look any better now. She's probably a patient that got some bad news and decided to come and drink up her sorrows.

Helen. That's her name. I remember because I heard the guy she was standing with, an English-Indian guy calling her to stop but she didn't. Against all my better judgment, I feel myself walking up to her and she immediately looks up at me with those dark brown eyes, something stirs up inside of me and then, she rolls her eyes and mutters something incoherent under her breath.

"I didn't really catch that." I say as I take the seat directly beside her. This is about to get interesting.

"If you're looking for a booty call tonight, you'd be the last guy I'd pick." Her voice is the definition of calm and mean at the same time. I couldn't hear anything past that British accent though. "Hell, I wouldn't even pick you."

"That's um-" I start but when she sets her gaze back on me, I clear my throat before continuing. "That's not the reaction I normally get out of women."

She scoffs "Oh, how does it feel to not be treated as the egotistical white male you are."

Well, if that doesn't hurt. "I have a feeling there is a deeper issue here." I chuckle. "Anyway, I'm not trying to get you to sleep with me, you look upset and your energy is radiating and rubbing off on everyone in this bar, just wanted to see if you're okay." A look of guilt flashes across her face as she sighs and turns back to me.

After a few seconds of silence, with her eyes closed like she's trying to regain her calm, she speaks up "I'm sorry." She admits and I lean my elbow against the cold marble of the bar top. "The last time I was this mean to somebody was when my best friend decided to jump in bed with my boyfriend and that was seven years ago." She lets out a throaty chuckle. "Um, you don't deserve this."

"I don't." I shrug "But your ex-boyfriend was an idiot."

"Or I'm the emotionless bitch he said I was."

"You're being emotional for at least ten people tonight; you're doing okay so far." I nod jokingly and she smiles genuinely for the first time.

God, she is beautiful.

"Are you a therapist?"

I shrug "More or less." She rolls her eyes. "So, I'm guessing your ex is not why you're here tonight."

"Nope, you're the picture reminder of the bad thing that happened to me today."

"Ouch."

"Sorry, you asked for it." She shrugs and I nod, urging her to continue. "I lost a position I was supposed to get at work today to a white man, who apparently is dreamy and everything the girls that work there likes. Which is just sexist and racist because I mean, why give it to me when there's some dreamy man out there that's going to save the whole place." She exhales "That's why I was mean to you, I'm sorry once again."

"I can see how that must be upsetting." she shrugs and mutters 'yeah' under her breath as she takes another swig of her drink. "Who's the guy? Do you know him or-"

"No. I didn't stick around to find out more, I left in a hurry because I had an appointment somewhere else, thought that would be more fun than getting to know who the guy is." She's definitely a patient at New Amsterdam then, she must have had that appointment there.

"I'm sorry." I tell her.

"Shit happens…" Of course she doesn't know my name.

"Max."

"I'm Helen."

"Helen." I repeat and the name rolls of my tongue perfectly. "Well Helen, you can do one out of two things, first is to not dwell on the fact that someone got something you deserve, he probably deserved it too- sure, it might be a sexist and racist decision like you said but it probably isn't. I mean, something tells me no one would dare try to do something that stupid to you."

She chuckles and shakes her head softly, something constricts inside of me as I find myself just watching her, wanting to know just everything. "What's the second thing?" I feel my face heats up because I probably was staring deep into her soul and I made her uncomfortable.

"Or you can let it affect your relationship with your new colleague who you know nothing about but what you heard from others." I shrug. "I prefer the former for you."

"Thank you." She says sincerely.

"So, you think I'm dreamy?' I waggle my brows playfully at her.

"What? No, I uh-" she's at a loss of words and I have never seen anything more cute than the sight of her all embarrassed and in denial.

"Come on, apparently I'm the picture remind of your dreamy colleague which just means."

"Ugh, you're insufferable." she says. "But I still feel bad for being rude at you and calling you egotistical, you don't deserve it."

"You said that." I smile.

"I'm buying you a drink."

"No, I'm not here for anything-"

"No, Max, you lightened up my mood which is something that doesn't happen often when I'm in one of my moods, I'm probably never going to see you again in this city so I should thank you." She deadpans. "I'm buying you a fucking drink, it's only one drink. It's not going to do any damage."

If only we both knew at the time.

One drink turns into two and two into three. We are at the flirting point, palms on knees, looking into each other's eyes and never letting go, laughing over something silly about my childhood and Helen telling me stories about her embarrassing parents and how they never let her catch a break when they know she's dating someone.

"There was a time my dad decided to come visit me in school." Her palms move immediately to cover her face, horrified about the story she is going to tell. "How he found out my dorm is still mysterious to me and there he was, standing in my room while I was practically half naked with my boyfriend at the time."

"No." I laugh.

"Yes." She cries and uses her palms to cover her face in embarrassment. "And then he was like 'Helen Rose! Is this what I sent you to do in school?' And I knew it was serious because he used my second name, he even faked a heart attack and if I didn't know any better at the time, I would have gotten a heart attack too."

"That's absolutely horrifying; I think you win the round of embarrassing family members." I say as I lift my glass at her and she does the same proudly.

"Nobody deserves it more than I do." She downs the rest of her drink in one go. As she rubs her palms together and look back at me. "Do you live nearby?"

Is she suggesting what I think she is suggesting? No, it can't be possible. I'm the last guy she said she'd pick here and- I realize she's still waiting for my answer so I clear my throat and nods "Yeah, just a few miles away."

"Good." She says silently as her gaze falls to my fingers, as if checking to see if there's going to be something that'd stop her.

"Don't worry, I'm not married or anything."

"Good." She says yet again.

"I cannot remember the last time I had anything serious to do with-" I stop, she doesn't need to know all that, but she looks like she's waiting for me to say more. "My job is demanding." I say lamely with a shrug.

She scoffs "Max, we're never going to see each other again."

I down my drink in one go and stand up "Okay then, I guess we should get going."

We walk out of the bar together, hand in hand, not saying anything to each other and definitely not looking at each other. The last thing we'd want is any of us to change our minds, so when we reach the walkway, I let go of her hand and hail a cab while she takes out her phone and starts typing away.

"Any problem?" I ask her, she looks so lost on her phone that she doesn't know that the cab is already waiting in front of us. "Do you have to go?"

"No, a colleague needed help with something." She says as she tucks away her phone in her back pocket. "My job is… demanding." She steals my words with a mischievous smile on her face and I shake my head as I open the door for her and let her enter. "Thank you." She says silently and I nod as I get in after her.

"So, the last thing I need to wake up with tomorrow is a hangover." She starts, because the silence is deafening and I'm pretty sure all I was doing was staring at her. Like, who's this woman? And why am I being comfortable with her?

"Don't worry; you won't wake up with one." She cocks a brow at me and before I get to reply her, we arrive in front of my apartment complex and I pay up the taxi driver, I'm not about to let her pay for anything more.

Helen takes a look at her environment before following me up to the steps and into the foyer, we move silently to the elevator and I can hear her even breathing because the place is too silent to hear anything else. I press the number to my apartment floor while I wait patiently and watch the numbers go higher and higher to my advantage.

When we reach the floor and the elevator door opens, Helen hesitates a bit before following me out "Having second thoughts?" I smirk and she shrugs.

"I mean, serial killers in NYC are only ninety percent all white males in their thirties." She shrugs innocently with a cock of her brow and I laugh out loud.

"Don't believe everything you read on the internet."

"Well, I was moving permanently to NYC without a single knowledge of what I'm getting into. Of course, I turned to the internet for advice." She says. "Did you know that on 28th November, 2012 not a single violent crime was reported for the entire day?"

"You don't say." I feign ignorance but she sees right through me and punches my shoulder lightly.

"You can't blame me!" her soft voice echoing in the hallways as I unlock the door to my apartment. "Everyone was freaked out about me moving out here permanently, some were wicked enough to supply me with newspaper clippings about all the crimes that happened in the city."

"How long have you been here?"

"Six years." She shrugs as we move inside the apartment and I've never been happier that I'm not a slob until right now. Not that I always bring women back here but I love my space more when it's neat. I can see that she looks impressed but refrained from making any comment, so I move to the kitchen cabinet, got her a glass of water and two pills to swallow.

"You're basically a New Yorker." I hand her the pills and she inspects them before taking them. "They're multivitamins."

"You don't say." She repeats and this time around, I find myself laughing harder than I did before.

"You keep doing that."

"You keep saying things that I find fitting for our conversation." She shrugs nonchalantly as I take the glass cup from her after she downs it and move them to the kitchen. "So, Max, what were you doing drinking alone in The Tavern?"

"My sister bailed on me at the last minute, it was even her idea in the first place." I turn around to see her removing her coat, she's wearing a white blouse and a mango patterned knee length skirt underneath it. To say she looks incredible is an understatement. "She always does that when she is with her fiancé."

"I mean, why are you single?" she asks bluntly as if hinting that I wouldn't need to rely on my sister all the time if I had someone. I move to where she is now sitting down on the couch and take my seat next to her. Incredibly close to her.

"Why are you?" I ask her.

"Who said I am?" she shrugs mischievously with a hint of teasing in her voice as she leans in to kiss me and my hand immediately moves to pull her closer to me. I'm practically a school boy as she moves on top of me and continues kissing me, her slender fingers cradling my face and damn me, I don't remember the last time I feel this good being with a woman.

"Uh, should we move this to the bedroom?" I say in whispers as I kiss her neck and she nods frantically while moaning.

She wraps her legs around my waist as I move us effortlessly to the room and closes the door behind us.

The next morning, the sound of a phone ringing wakes me up. Helen's phone.

I quickly sit up and see her sleeping peacefully beside me, last night after our late night shenanigans, we both got hungry at the middle of the night and I had to make sandwiches for both of us. Being all domestic with Helen stirs up something inside me and got me hopeful. I thought I would probably be able to have a relationship as I watch her in my oversized shirt that was showing her thighs, sitting on my kitchen counter with her hair a mess.

It was a sight could get used to.

After the midnight breakfast, I gave her a sleeping mask because she was still worried about waking up with a hangover and right now, the sleeping mask is still over her eyes as she sleeps serenely with her breaths even.

"Helen." I say softly as she murmurs deep in her sleep. "Do you need to answer your phone?" I ask as I caress her face.

"What time is it?" she asks as she takes off the seeping mask and sits up. "Ugh."

"It's 6:30, hangover?"

"No, I'm just tired." She says, not looking at me. "I guess I should get going." She rips the blanket off her body and I can't help but stare at her perfect body only in her underwear and bra. "Why don't you take a picture?" she teases as she picks up her blouse and starts getting dressed.

I chuckle "It won't help me a bit." I move to where she's standing and make a move to kiss her but she quickly pulls back.

"Um, morning breath." I roll my eyes because she is obviously just making excuses.

"Right."

"Can I use the toothbrush I used last night?"

"Yeah." She hesitates a bit, probably because of my one worded answers but makes a beeline to the bathroom. A minute later, she emerges and I'm still standing where she left me.

She moves to me and places a chaste kiss on my cheek "Thank you for a really good night, Max." she smiles, she is clearly saying goodbye and I don't know why my heart feels heavy because I want to get to know her. I don't want this to be a onetime thing but she made it pretty clear this was a onetime thing. I might as well get on board with it.

"I don't suppose we could try this some other time-"

"Max-"

"I mean, we could bump into each other at The Tavern or Central Park, this is an incredibly small city when it comes to things like this…" I trail off because shit, I'm not on board with this and she looks amused.

"I don't go to Central Park." She says.

"And you're probably going to avoid The Tavern because of me." I state when I realize I'm starting to sound like a stalker. "Right."

"But-" oh, there's a but. But her damn phone starts ringing again and she takes it quickly. "Dr. Sharpe." Now, where did I know that name? "Oh hey, are you okay?" the caller says something and her eyes widen a bit. "I'm on my way." She sounds worried as she moves to the living room and I follow her quickly. "Don't hang up, talk to me." She takes her coat from the couch on the living room and moves quickly to the door. "Yeah, you're doing okay. Tell him to call an ambulance." Just as she reaches the door, she turns around and locks eyes with me; she smiles apologetically before giving me a small wave and moving out.

Shit.

I keep replaying the name Sharpe in my head, trying to remember where I heard it. And then after what feels like an hour of thinking, I thought back to New Amsterdam and it clicks, Dr. Helen Sharpe! Head of Oncology. Realization settles in my stomach and I swallow hard because, well shit.

I was the reason she was at that bar yesterday and I'll be damned if I know how I'm going to face her in just one hour.

…

_So is it interesting enough? Next Chapter will be in Helen's POV. And I decided to give her a middle name, Rose! Hence the title, Roses and Good Wills. _

_Tell me what you think in reviews. Reviews are love. Xoxo_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_Helen_

The next few minutes I spend on my way to Lily's are excruciatingly strenuous, my feet hurt from wearing those heels all day yesterday and I don't exactly feel too hot from my last night's mischief.

Max. I find myself smiling at the thought of him, that must have been the most reckless thing I've done in years and I'm happy it was with him. He's handsome, a gentleman and everything a girl next door wants. If I were ten years younger, I would have taken him up on his offer to see each other more. But I'm not. I'm the Head of Oncology in New Amsterdam public hospital and definitely not the Medical Director of said hospital.

I scoff inwardly at that. It was like Max said, I can either move on from this or let it affect my job and my relationship with a guy I barely know. But it's really hard not to be bitter about someone having a job I've wanted for years. The public hospital system is broken and it needs to be fixed, what if he is just another guy adding bucks to his bank account without doing nothing about all the people suffering from the system? I might as well just resign if that happens to be the case.

I exit the cab as I carefully set my feet on the ground; I have blisters because I walked all the way from New Amsterdam to The Tavern yesterday. I have a feeling heels wouldn't be a part of my dress code today. I enter the foyer and make my way inside the elevator; I press the number to Lily's floor as I wait impatiently. After I help Lily out, I'm going to have to rush back to my floor to get ready for work.

Lily is a young married woman that moved into the apartment complex a few months ago with her husband, we became friends when we bumped into each other in the elevator one day and the rest is history. Lily is due to give birth and she called me a few minutes ago to tell me she's been experiencing labour pains. Of course I had to leave Max's to make it to her.

"Lily?" I call out when I turn the knob and find the door opened.

"In the kitchen."

"Hey." I say as I rush to where she's sitting on the floor with her legs stretched.

"Actually, I feel a lot better now." She breathes out. "But the ambulance is on its way, like I told you I might die if I have to enter a car right now."

I chuckle at her antics "You're doing okay."

"I'm not doing okay, Helen, I'm three days overdue." She scoffs and rolls her eyes as sweat trickles down the side of her face. "And my idiot of a husband is not exactly helping. He panics more than I do."

"Where is he?" I ask.

"He's getting the rest of the things ready for hospital."

"Are you sure you don't want me there?" I ask her again; just like I did a few minutes ago and she assured me she just wanted me to reassure her about everything because Richard has been panicking.

"No, you need to go to work." She pushes off the ground and stands on her feet while clutching her bump, I help her to the living room where she relaxes on the couch. "Why were you out this early when you have a morning shift?" she asks and I'm spared from answering when Richard comes rushing in.

"Are you okay?" he practically hops to where we are seated and I couldn't hold back a laugh, which only seems to annoy Lily the more. My phone rings just as Lily is about to scold him and I answer it. It's Lauren.

"Um, do you plan on coming to work today?"

"Hello to you, too." I say sarcastically.

I can imagine her rolling her eyes from the other end "Panthaki said you left real early yesterday and you're supposed to be here ten minutes ago."

"I'm not late, Lauren."

"Well, you aren't really on your usual time either. I got worried."

"Something came up."

"Are you okay? Is this about the new medical director? Because he is here and he is nice to look at but I need to know if we are supposed to hate him."

Lauren Bloom has been my best friend throughout the years I have been working in New Amsterdam, we went through a lot together; good times, bad times, cold shoulder times etc. But we always come back to normal.

"I'll be there in an hour."

"You better be, because he just walked in and apart from being an eye candy, New Amsterdam has never been this vibrant."

_Ugh._

I watch as the illuminated numbers change above the door and for some reason, I feel today will be different. In either a good way or a bad way. I can spend the rest of my life sulking about why a man who knows nothing about New Amsterdam was chosen as our medical director or I can be thankful that I get less work and carry on being Head of Oncology.

I exit the elevator and start making my way to my office when I hear my name "Dr. Sharpe." I look up from my phone to see Dr. Stauton going in to her office. 'You're late, are you okay?'

She is the third person to point that out today because I'm a lot of things but a latecomer is not one of them. "Yeah, anything interesting happened?" I ask.

"A lot, I'm sure Bloom will be happy to fill you in."

She walks away and I enter my office to check out my calendar, no appointments today. Just going to have to check up on everyone else and carry on with my research with Dr. Panthaki. I took the folders with me and make a move to see Lauren before I see Akash; after all he deserves an apology for blowing him off yesterday.

_Where are you?_ I type out to Bloom but she didn't respond in a minute, which led me to believe she's either busy or she is down at the cafeteria. I went to her ER and she isn't there, she isn't at the cafeteria either so I make my way to Reynolds's office, my eyes still fixated on the recent updates in the files I received from Akash yesterday.

"Hey, Reynolds I don't suppose you know where-" I look up and I don't know when I drop the folders I'm holding.

What the hell is he doing here? What the hell is Max doing here?

In scrubs, I might add. And he looks even hotter than he did yesterday. What baffles me is he doesn't look as surprised as I do and-

"Nice of you to meet us, Dr. Sharpe." He says as he walks over to where I'm standing and picks up the folders from the ground and hands them to me. He stands almost a foot taller than me and I have never felt this tiny before. _Damn flat shoes._ My body is unresponsive because I couldn't bring myself to take them from him. "I'm Max Goodwin. The new medical director." When he realises I can't bring myself to take the folders from him, he places them on Reynolds's desk.

_Fucking hell. _I look around the room to see Lauren, Dora, Floyd, Iggy, Vijay, Candelario all watching me, so I decided to excuse myself.

I take a step back, then two. "Excuse me." I mutter more to myself but a hand holds me in place, Lauren's.

"Don't." She whispers.

_You don't know the half of it, Lauren._

"I guess we're done here." Max says and I don't know how it's possible to feel everything at the same time. I feel hurt, betrayed and exposed in front of him. He knew all that while and he pretended not to. "Dora, I need the contact details of each of the department heads because I'm going to need them within reach. I need a meeting set with the rest that aren't here right now, not later than tomorrow."

He's also a smug and demanding bastard.

"Dr. Sharpe, if you can follow me." He starts walking away but stops when I start talking.

"I mean, I could but I have something-" the bite in my voice is clearly obvious so he cuts me off. I watch as everyone starts sliding out of the room, including Reynolds, leaving the two of us.

"You don't have any appointments today." And he's a nosy bastard too. He checked my calendar.

After they all went out the door, he uses one hand to push the door closed and sighs. "Listen, Helen-"

"Dr. Sharpe." I bite out. "Are you fucking kidding me, how could you stoop so low?"

"I didn't know." He says calmly as he takes two steps towards me. The earnestness lingering in his eyes makes me want to believe him but I know better. He's just as manipulative as they come.

"Is that a joke?" I scoff. "Because you know how to make tons of them."

"Listen, I only found out after you left my apartment." He sighs. "I heard you say Dr. Sharpe on the phone and believe it or not, I had the name Sharpe in my head since I read your file after arriving yesterday."

"Fuck." I mutter as I move my fingers through my braids. And of course, they get stuck. Traitors. Everyone is a traitor.

"You swear like a sailor." He smirks while leaning against the desk. "It only takes me back to that thing you do with your mouth."

I don't know why my stomach somersaulted at that but I roll my eyes nevertheless, pick the folders from Floyd's desk and turn the door knob. He calls my name again-Helen, not Dr. Sharpe; I stop without turning to look at him.

He didn't say anything until he is right behind me "I swear I didn't know." He comes right in front of me, nods sincerely and moves out of the office. And just like that, I believe him. He cannot be that cruel, he didn't give me any reason to believe that he can be so cruel. He was the perfect gentleman last night; I don't believe he'd go all that lengths just to sleep with me. After all there are other women that would fall on their knees at the sight of him.

"Can I have my office back?" Floyd said with an annoyed look on his face.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"We've either got the best medical director or the worst one." He shrugs. "I guess time will tell."

"Why do you say that?"

"He didn't tell you all the impossible crap he mentioned to us about changing the system?"

_Um, no... He just talked about the thing I did with my mouth._

"Uh, no. Not really." I say as I scratch behind my ear.

"Well, he has all these impossible rules because a lot of people have already quit." So, he is really cruel to some extent. "I don't know how he got the time to know all this when he was just appointed yesterday."

_Believe me; I don't either because he was rather occupied last night._ Too many things I want to say out loud. "Speaking of, are you okay? We were all hoping to have you as the MD." He looks apologetic.

"Shit happens, Floyd." I shrug. "Honestly, it's less work for me."

"You're right. I have to get ready for a surgery." He says as he starts taking off his ring and watch.

"How is Evie doing?" I ask.

And his face lights up. "Really great, we'll be having lunch later if you want to join us?"

"Um-"

"Lauren is in." He says as if that is going to make me change my mind and I laugh.

"I'd really love to but I have to see Panthaki. We have a lot to discuss, we are at the conclusion stage, and he can't wait to go back to his office."

"Are you sure?" Floyd smirks. "Because he seems to be really into you."

I know he is. But I know Akash and I are incompatible, he's got two kids to look after and I got the whole trying to get pregnant thing to focus on.

"Don't you have a surgery to get to?" I say as I place my hand on his back and guide him out of his office as we both take separate ways.

Max is here. Max is the medical director of New Amsterdam. Of all the millions of guys that could walk up to me last night, the universe brought Max and I don't know how I feel about that. I'm practically walking on eggshells because I slept with the boss yesterday night and I don't know how I'm supposed to be calling him Dr. Goodwin when all last night, I had only two words "Oh Max" on my lips.

My thoughts have never been this jumbled up, where do I stand with Max? I know I told him I don't want anything more just a few hours ago but seeing him every day is not going to help my case. Not when he keeps standing close to me and smiling that bright smile of his, not when he brings up the thing I do with my mouth. I have no idea I do anything with my mouth.

Just as I round the corner to my office, I bump into some one "Watch where you are going." Lauren says in a sing song tone and I look up to see her smirking at me. "What has gotten into you this morning?" she asks while scanning my face with her eyes as if that's going to get her the answer she wants.

"Well, I'd tell you what has gotten _into _me last night, if you promise not to scream."

Typical Lauren, she rolls her eyes and scoffs. "I don't scream, I'm not a kid."

"You might if I tell you this." She cocks her brow, urging me to tell her and totally undermining the depth of shit I am in. I move her to a secluded corner and whisper "Max Goodwin."

And to her credit, she did not scream. But she gasps, loudly. Loud enough to wake up a coma patient. "What are you, crazy? Is that why you were late? I bet he was so good, ain't he?"

"One question at a time." I sigh. "I didn't know who he was, he was not the reason why I'm late and-" warmth rushes to my cheeks as I scratch the back of my ear and all I see is Lauren's smirk in front of me. _God no, I won't hear the end of this._

"Oh, he's good." She concludes. "Wow." She gives me a once over as if expecting to see some changes on my body and it's my turn to roll my eyes. A one night stand with Max Goodwin isn't enough to get me glowing but is it? I mean, I feel pretty good after last night. It was nice to be loved that way. "And I'm taking you back there, aren't I?"

My mouth falls open in denial "No, you are not and I didn't really tell you so you'd swoon, I told you so you could tell me what to do. This is an impossible situation and-"

"Has anyone seen Dr. Sharpe?" his voice booms out in the corridor and I sigh unenthusiastically. I haven't done a single thing yet but this cat and mouse game I have got with Max in the back of my mind has gotten me tired. I bet he doesn't feel that way with all the energy he's got. Why is it that the woman is always the one affected?

"He knows I have a pager, right?" I whisper to Lauren who is just looking amused by everything that is happening.

"Am I interrupting?" Max's head pops around the corner and I fake a smile.

Lauren clears her throat as she slides out of the corner and starts walking away backwards "Not really, I was just leaving. I've been paged, you know through a pager, which every medical staff here has." She gives me double thumbs up because she really thought she has helped me. I just ended up being the one that is embarrassed.

Max is staring at her weirdly and just as I turn around to ask him why he's here, he moves straight to the point "I need you in cardio-oncology."

I fake a laugh "Uh, why?"

"Because I need you there." He's on edge and I don't know why. I stare at him, waiting for a reasonable answer and when he realises he was being inconsiderate, he sighs and continues "You are the best oncologist we have and we have a severe case of myocarditis."

"Isn't that the patient Reynolds got into surgery like a minute ago?"

"Well, there was no surgery, because we need an oncologist before we start anything. She is at the end-stage of a heart failure, she needs a ventricular assist device or transplant or it is the end. We need to know our options right now." I start walking into my office to get ready and he follows me. "The patient is Jane Danvers and-"

"Wait, I know that name." I say as I start going through my computer for her records. "Oh here it is." My heart sinks at the sight of her file. "She was a breast cancer patient here, Dr. Stauton's patient- the cancer was fought alright, but I guess the treatment got to her heart."

"Shit." He looks lost and worried. I'm guessing the Medical Director thing is not a cakewalk. Heck; I know it's not a cakewalk but seeing Max's mood change in a matter of few minutes got me thinking maybe not being the medical director is a blessing in disguise.

"You know how getting an organ donor works; it might take as long as months or short as today or tomorrow; either way, the VAD is her best option right now. But it costs a lot and-"

"That's not a problem-"

"Max, we run on a budget and I don't think the board are going to appreciate you making big decisions like this to every patient that walks in."

"It's a public hospital, Helen. It's why we are here." He puts both his hands on my desk and drops his head, while letting out an exhale.

Of course, in a way he is right but the way things were going with the former medical director, seeing a huge bill on his first day isn't going to look good on his record with the board. They might just think he is another MD that doesn't care.

"How long does she have?" I ask gently.

"Not long enough." He looks up at me and I immediately sympathise with him. I don't really envy him right now.

"Can you give me a day or two to look at our options?" he opens his mouth to protest but I stop him. "Before you say anything, I know just who to call and the right words to say. I'm not going to let you look any less in charge."

He smiles, really smiles. "I was going to say I'm putting her life in your hands."

I hold my breath because I know how it feels when it doesn't work out; I don't want to go down that lane again. I push that out of my mind and ask him "Do you get this attached to all your patients?"

For a second, he looks taken aback by the question and then he shrugs. "I can't help it, I just imagine myself in their shoes or the shoes of their loved ones." He sighs. "Try to look at things from their point of views." Even in his job, Max is a good person and I can't help but feel warmth and at home when I look at him.

"Let me guess, it's never pretty." I reply, my voice barely a whisper.

"It is sometimes," he smiles soothingly. "When it all works out."

And in that moment, I feel hope for myself, our patients, New Amsterdam at large and the world in general.

...

_So guys, please leave a review so I'd know what you think. _

_I didn't start writing this chapter with the last part between Max and Helen in mind, but it became my favourite part when I was done with the chapter._

_What about you_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Hello everyone, so here is this. Max's POV is extremely tough to write. and don't get me started on the medical conditions. Lol. this fic might just be shorter than it is supposed to be because of how i suck at writing medical conditions i know nothing about. next chapter will be in Helen's POV and I'm sure it'll be much more enjoyable than this.

_Max_

I've never felt the need to resign from a job so badly like I do right now, but then again it'd take more than four old boring looking board members to make me resign. The icy glares they have in their eyes only make me want to not answer the question they've thrown a few seconds ago.

"Listen Dr. Goodwin," The financier starts, to his credit though he doesn't look as old as the rest but his attitude makes him. "We get it, you want to help but-"

"I didn't realise there will be a but in that sentence." I say as I lean forward in my seat and drop the Rubik's cube I've been fidgeting with on the table. "I'm here to help, I did what I had to do to help that poor woman because she deserves a chance and when you look at it from another perspective, Jane's heart was perfectly fine, our treatment got her into this condition."

I hear a hiss and I follow the direction to look at the only woman in the room, Catherine Forbes staring at me through her thin clear glasses "You can carry on with your sass and 'perspectives' talk'" God, I hate air quotes. But probably not as much as I'm about to loathe her. "What we're trying to tell you is that you can't keep making decisions like this and expect to make the hospital better, the budget is already tight as it is. We don't need some goody two shoes-"

"Goody two shoes?" If this woman isn't becoming my favourite person in the whole world. I look up to see Helen standing by the door with a smirk on her face. "Come on, Cathy, you could be a lil' more original than that." She called her Cathy.

The room falls silent, all the nasty looks I was receiving are now directed at Helen as she holds Catherine's gaze. Catherine looks just about ready to charge at Helen when I clear my throat. "Dr. Sharpe?" I hope she isn't doing this for my sake, I shouldn't take her with me if I'm about to lose my job.

"We need you in paediatric." She turns to me. "A baby with a minor case of jaundice."

"I'm guessing it can wait, since it's minor." 'Cathy chirps in. The name is catchy.

I stand up quickly, "We have different definitions of 'minor' in accountancy and medicine." I shake the financier's hand, seeing as he is the lesser evil of the four and beams at them. "We should do this again, when we are all less stressed. Thank you."

I join Helen at the hallway and sigh "I could kiss you right now." I whisper silently and she scoffs.

"I'd rather if you don't."

Of course, that's how she'd react. I should've known.

It's been three days since I started working at New Amsterdam and Helen keeps acting like nothing has happened between us. In fact, after we made the decision to use the VAD on Jane yesterday morning, she has avoided me for the rest of the day.

"Right. So about the jaundice case?" if she wants strictly business, she is getting it.

I've had time to think about Helen and I've come to the conclusion that I like her. I think that has been the case since the first time I saw her in the hospital, I hardly know anything about her apart from the fact that she is an outstanding doctor and she knows it. That is why she is the Head of Oncology in the hospital. I've went through her file twice, to see if I'll pick up anything on her but to no avail. When I started to feel like a stalker in my own body, I dropped it and move to other matters.

And with the way she is acting right now, I know the best option is to give her space.

"Paediatrics." She answers dismissively. "It's not severe, with the right treatment and monitoring, it'll disappear. I just informed you about it so you'd know." She saved me from that god awful meeting. Before I had the chance to acknowledge it, I get interrupted.

"Helen!" a voice shouts and we turn around at the same time to see who I guess is Dr. Panthaki. He practically jogs towards us and takes Helen's hands in his as he stands beside her. My sight follows the movement and I'm pretty sure something shifts in my expression because Helen clears her throat.

"Akash, this is Dr. Goodwin, our MD." She smiles at him. I fight the urge to roll my eyes as she turns towards me and say "Max, this is Dr. Panthaki. He's-"

"I know." Clearly, my jealousy got the better of me. But I know who he is, he is the guy that was chasing her the day I first arrived and he's got the heart eyes look in his eyes, his intention towards her are clear. But if she wants to be with a fellow oncologist who she's running a research with, who am I to stand in the way?

"Hey Mate." Oh, he's got the accent too. And he's calling me mate.

I stretch out my hand towards him "Nice to meet you, mate." I mock and I feel Helen's gaze burning the side of my face so I let go of his handshake and look at her. "Later."

She only nods and I make my way down to Cardiology to receive reports from Floyd on the myocarditis patient, if I'm going to be productive as a Medical Director, I need to cleanse my mind of any Helen Sharpe's thoughts. It's clear she doesn't want anything to do with me, probably because of the working condition we found ourselves in or something is stopping her.

I refuse to believe our night together was just a one night thing, she has so much more to offer. She needs to be loved the right way, from the little she has told me about her ex, she clearly deserves so much more than what she has been receiving.

"If it isn't our MD." Floyd says when he sees me and I smile.

Somehow, I've managed to make friends with a lot of the people working in the hospital. On my first day, it was blatantly clear that I've annoyed most of the staff but I feel the change and I can tell the staffs like it too.

"How is the report coming through?"

"Perfect, just like the surgery." He beams. "We are glad to have you. And when I say we, I mean everyone. The patients, doctors, other workers and-"

"The board members would like to differ."

"That bad?" it's more of a statement because he knows it'd be that bad.

"It was not somewhere you'd want to be." I sigh as I sit in the chair opposite him. "There was a lot of finger pointing happening but Dr. Sharpe saved the day."

"She did, didn't she?" now he looks wholly interested as his gaze left his computer and turns back to me. "Let me guess, Catherine Forbes was there."

"She was." I say. There's something I don't know because Floyd lets out a chuckle and I tilt my head in confusion. "Crazy woman."

"She is." He agrees as he turns back to the computer and presses a key. The printer beside me starts printing out as he stands up and walks to me. "The important thing is that, the woman can't cross Helen and she now knows that Helen has got your back." Does she though?

"Why can't she cross Helen?" a woman in her position, with that icy glare, I find it hard to believe innocent 5'2 Helen Sharpe intimidates her.

"Lauren Bloom tells the story better than anyone." He picks up the documents and hands them to me. "Keep on with the good work." He says sincerely. This place is filled with good people that keep motivating me; the likes of Catherine Forbes cannot let me lose hope in New Amsterdam. "And, don't give up on Sharpe."

I'm surprised that he knows something. But I'm more surprised at the fact that he decided to talk to me about this. "Why do you say that?"

"That moment in here the day you arrived, we knew something was up." Floyd smirks. "Y'all speak too loud in the hallways."

We really don't. I feel my cheeks warm up in spite of myself as I nod. I might have just found a friend in Floyd Reynolds.

"Max!" Bloom shouts from the door. "I need your help in the ER." She looks tired and disorderly, without waiting for my answer, she turns towards the direction of the ER and I follow, hot on her heels.

"You don't look too good."

"This is my 30th hour on my feet; of course I won't look good, Max."

"Uh, we don't have a system for you to be pulling outrageous shifts."

"You made many of the workers quit, remember?" she throws back and I nod.

"Yes, but I didn't exactly fire them." I explain, making her huff out a breath. "They feel the need to quit because New Amsterdam will finally get a system that works and that doesn't suit their selfish needs so-"

"Max!" she stops, rubbing her temples. "I adore you, honestly. I do." She says as she looks at me. "And I love what you are doing to the place but can we focus on this homeless drunk dude that was hit by a bike and cannot stop hitting on my ER staff?"

"Yes sure."

"Thank you." She sighs as she starts walking again. "His CT shows he has concussion, we'd like to keep him but he is a mean drunk. You have a way with words, maybe you could help?"

We arrive at the ER and my sight lands on the patient in question. For some reason, I've always had a soft spot for homeless people. I can go as far as to say I became a doctor because of one. One that saved my life almost at the expense of his when I was eight.

"Alright, you're done for the day." I turn to Lauren and she scoffs.

"No, I-"

"Lauren, I'll handle this." I nod reassuringly, realising that she has lost the battle she sighs. "Besides, I need your full energy when you tell me about Sharpe and Cathy."

Regardless of her situation, she laughs out loud "Let me guess, Floyd has been feeding you with stories."

"Well, we spend most of our free time together." I shrug. "Certain topics get discussed."

"Certain topics like my best friend?" she smiles mischievously.

"Like I said, you're done for the day." I walk away to the homeless guy, grabbing a sitting stool with me to his bed. I stare at his appearance, from his tattered trousers to the heavy jacket he is wearing –and it is not season for jackets- to his unclean hair.

"Did the pretty girl send you to kick me out?" he slurs out, his teeth are not any better than his hair as he grins at me. Maybe I should get him down to Dental when he's done here but first things first.

"We are not going to kick you out." He looks surprised at the calmness of my voice. Maybe he expects me to treat him worse. "How did you get hit?"

"I dunno, it all happened too fast." He answers, looking defeated. "I guess I was in the wrong lane or something. Biker stopped to check if I was okay. I was at the time but not anymore."

"Well, sir-"

"Call me Chris."

"Okay, Chris." I smile. "You have a concussion and it doesn't go well with alcohol. I'd really appreciate if you let us look after you for the next few hours."

He stretches on the bed and smirks at me "I'm okay with that, this is nicer than our shitty shelter."

"Good, then I expect you to be nice to the nurses too." My palm finds his shoulder. "They are here to help you, they are here for you. They'll give you something that will help you rest, Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." He looks exhausted from all the cahoots he's been causing as he yawns, the alcohol finally getting the better of him.

"I'll check up on you later." I say but he turns around without giving me an answer.

Five hours later, it's almost sundown and I'm done checking up on all the cases that need my help. The last patient I saw was a cancer patient under Dr. Stauton and as a doctor and medical director, I know I'm not supposed to be negative but it's hard not to feel worn down when you see some patients. Shauna, the patient is just seventeen years old with stage four lungs cancer and the condition she is in breaks my heart. Her body is rejecting almost every treatment she has been receiving. Even Dr Stauton, a direct and callous doctor seems to be moodier than ever and I know it's because she's taken the patient's condition to heart even if she won't admit it. But that is the thing about humanity; it shows even when we try our damndest best to hide it. "I'm going to die, aren't I?" Shauna had asked me and when I told her we won't let that happen, I felt like the worst doctor ever. We aren't supposed to lie to patients but we are not supposed to fill them with false hopes either.

I push open the door to the rooftop and breathe in the fresh air when a voice from afar speaks up "If you're looking for a hideout, this one is taken."

Of course, she is here. I have spent almost two hours in Oncology and she was not there, "We shared a king sized bed." I point out as I start walking towards her. "I'm sure we could share this rooftop." I say as I lean against the banisters beside her. "Who are you hiding from?" I ask her, if she refers to this place as hideout, she's clearly running away from something.

"Research results." She pauses. "The whole of Oncology." I chuckle at her answer.

"You're the head of oncology; it'll be pretty hard for you to run away from it."

She sighs as she looks forward into the city, she has a ring on her left middle finger and she is playing with it "I know, but on days like these when being a doctor doesn't always pay off, I want to run away from everything." Her gaze turns to me. "But I can't."

"I know the feeling." I tell her.

"So, what are you running from?" she dismisses the topic, I smile as I turn my back to the city while staring at her.

"I just needed fresh air, some cases are suffocating."

"Shauna?" she asks, with a knowing and pity look on her face. I only nod in response. "Yeah, Dr. Stauton needs to be commended for handling it so well, I can never be that strong."A shadow falls over her face as she looks ahead and I wait a few seconds, just looking at her before I respond. She is breathtaking.

"We are all different doctors, Helen." She stops looking ahead and duck her head. I hope she isn't about to cry. "We handle our patients differently, you wouldn't be head of oncology if you are not strong." I give her shoulder a little squeeze and she sighs, I move my hand away not to ruin the moment. "So, who did you rush off to see the other morning? Sounded like a medical emergency."

She lets out a chuckle and her mood shifts a bit "My neighbour, Lily, she was in labour at the time." She turns around to look at me. "Actually, she was a few days overdue and her husband was freaking out, so she called me. Though, she has given birth to Lizzy. A very pretty baby girl." She looks happy talking about Lily and her baby and I wonder if she is imagining what having hers would feel like. "Let me guess, me saying Dr. Sharpe into the phone was what gave me up."

"Yeah." I laugh. "But, something must have given me up too? I had a first aid kit in my living room." I joke and she rolls her eyes.

"Nope."

"You asked if I was a therapist and I said more or less."

"You remembered all that." She states, she doesn't sound surprised. Just impressed. "And you're not making any sense, you know." She says, turning to our real conversation.

"Not even the multivitamins? And how I know they help with a hangover?"

"No, Max." She laughs. "Not even the multivitamins because everyone can walk into a pharmacy and buy multivitamins and Google tells you what helps with a hangover."

I take a complete different turn from that discussion, "I saw you that afternoon you know." She turns sharply and I continue quickly. "Here in New Amsterdam. But honestly, I thought you were a patient. That's why I was quick to approach you at The Tavern, it wasn't right, I know. But if a patient was self-destructing, I wanted to talk them out of it."

"Yeah, now that I think about all that, I'm not proud of my behaviour that day." Her hand moves to tuck her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, but it's understandable." If I spend so long wanting something, something I would be incredibly good at and it goes to someone, I would be pretty upset too. "You were walking out of the hospital and Dr. Panthaki was calling you but you didn't stop."

"God, no." She looks embarrassed. Her palms move to cover her face. "Do you remember everything?"

"I have a good memory." I shrug. "And I pay attention. I was standing by the door, waiting for Ron when all that happened, it's pretty hard not to notice what is going on in front of you." She turns to look at me and I smile at her, as if to tell her I'm not judging her. "But when we talked and you mentioned something about going for another appointment, I thought you were neither a patient nor a doctor. I just assumed something else brought you to New Amsterdam." I don't know how the conversation takes a complete one eighty but I guess it's now or never.

She listens to me attentively and I can tell she is starting to get how everything happened. Because for some reason, I think she believes I know who she was before everything that happened that night. "If I had known you were a doctor here," I continue "it doesn't matter how attracted I am to you. I wouldn't have taken it that far. You clearly respect professionalism and I'm giving you the space you clearly need but I'm here, you are going to see me every day." I pause. "We are going to come in contact with each other almost every other day so I guess it's safe to say we're stuck with each other. I'm not asking you to change your mind. I'm telling you that we're adults and we can be professionals, you don't have to avoid me."

"I'm not avoiding you." She tries to deny it without looking at my eyes and I chuckle.

"But you are." I tell her. "And it'll get tiring, so I guess it's better if we just become comfortable around each other and be friends." She scoffs absentmindedly, which makes her gaze fall back to me to see if I've noticed her scoff, so I nod.

She sighs. "Okay, then. Friends." She answers with a smile. That smile. Shit. I don't know if I just bullshitted myself by talking about things that I wasn't supposed to talk about in the first place.

..

Don't forget to tell me what you think about this! I'm open for suggestions and ideas.


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